


Private Heroism | Doctor Who and MCU Crossover

by TheDoctorsEscape



Series: Inquniverse [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood, crossover - Fandom
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Deaf Clint Barton, F/F, Human Disaster Clint Barton, M/M, Multilingual Character, Nick Fury Knows All, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-11-16 16:13:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18097754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorsEscape/pseuds/TheDoctorsEscape
Summary: "To be a hero you must do good, and in turn, inspire others to do good as well.""That'd be easier if people actually knew who we were."Heroes become stars that are subjected to the cries of crowds and the glittering lights, but she didn't need to be someone's hero to be kind. Shunned by her school because she returned different after a particularly nasty trip, Samara is an outcast again. Having never really belonged anywhere she fights to find her place in the world. But when her new neighbor is dragged into an adventure she will never forget; the girl who's name was stolen from a book about inescapable destinies finally finds her fate: to save the world with her four best friends from an attic in Ealing.





	1. Prologue

The scratching of a pencil on paper was the only thing to be heard. Samara was never a loud child, and while she liked quite a lot of music, she didn't like it now, this was her time. The seventeen year old rarely had time spent alone, but if she did it was always spent like this, hunched over her worn leather notebook, talking about her life, her thoughts, her emotions, it really didn't matter, it just had to be her. 

The Wakandan characters stood out on the page, the black ink of the girl's pen sinking in but not spreading to the other side like so many others had over the years she spent writing in the journal. Writing in the old red journal wasn't a tradition or anything, but she put words to the page every time she had to get something out that she couldn't talk about to anyone else: her life in Wakanda and how she had to adjust between having the technology to do things most people attributed to the realm of science fiction and then having to deal with having a crappy laptop and cellphone with poor reception the next minute; dealing with the fact that she wanted a better relationship with her malume (uncle) and uzalakazi (aunt) back in Wakanda but she doesn't want to leave her Oupa (grandfather) behind; processing the fact that her wɔfa (uncle) is an agent of SHIELD and could die and she'd never be told how, while the very same could be said about his many friends within the organization that she's begun to care about as well; noting that she's helped out with multiple aliens coming down to Earth and her involvement is only due to her neighbors which even though she's moved haven't gotten any less involved. 

Sighing as she shook her head, Samara stood up and closed her journal, she had just finished up her report of what happened in the Battle of Canary Warf, an event she didn't willingly take part in and yet still lost more friends and people she cared about than she would like to think about. Gently placing the leather book onto the shelf next to the matching journals she sighed, they were a gift given to her when she was a kid, she had them from the time she was seven years old and ten years later she was only half way through the first one, she needed to do something more interesting with her life. Shaking back the thought, she walked out of her room and down the stairs to her kitchen, heating up a slice of pizza for an early lunch before she headed over to her neighbor's house. 

Her Oupa (grandfather) didn't want her to be alone all day and due to his auto shop's location in Peckham he wouldn't be home until late that night, if at all. Samara knew Anansi, her wɔfa (uncle), was supposed to be over the next day, but last she checked he was on a mission in Czech Republic and while she wanted to see him it was an exfiltration operation for a person who ratted out a man who was big in illegal surgeries that supposedly made the patients mutants, the organization was taken out almost overnight by the information provided but there were still people who escaped so the snitch was in danger and needed a new set up in a different country, probably the US due to SHIELD's countless resources in country. It wasn't anything new, Samara knew her wɔfa (uncle) would be busy for the next week or two and would send another agent to watch after her while he and her Oupa (grandfather) were busy before showing up a month late and taking her out for ice cream and apologizing numerous times, genuinely sorry it didn't work out. It was fine, being an agent of SHIELD wasn't just a job, not for him, it was a part of who he was and Samara wouldn't, couldn't, take that away from him, so she would just smile, crack a joke, and forgive him before sending him out the door again, even though it might be the last time she sees him.

The beep of the microwave called Samara back into the present, with another shake of her head she opened the machine and pulled out the food and the cup of water that had now been warmed by what half her family would consider incredibly ancient technology. They had offered to loan her some tech to use while she was staying in the United Kingdom but with her wɔfa's (uncle) connection to SHIELD and her Oupa's (grandfather) obliviousness to the fact that her and her Agya's (father) country isn't impoverished and closed off but in reality very advanced, at least technology wise. With her slice of pizza and warm water the teen sat down at the table, munching on the molten cheese bread her Oupa (grandfather) had brought home the night before after leaving Jake in charge of closing up for the first time, he did alright but he forgot to lock a few things, hence her Oupa's (grandfather) planned lateness. Outside the house she heard the sound of a truck pulling into the house next door, Samara knew it had sold a few days ago but she honestly thought it would've taken them longer to move in. With a sigh she wolfed down the last of the food before downing her water, she stood up and brushed her hands on her legs before placing her plate in the sink and walking back upstairs to her room. 

This was going to be a lazy day, sure she'd go over to Sarah Jane's house after the older woman was done investigating whatever it was, but the two of them were in a bit of an awkward place so she'd probably just read one of the woman's many books in her living room rather than actually doing anything. However, here she was, getting ready to greet her neighbors. She knew that she'd get in trouble with her Oupa (grandfather) if she didn't at least go over to say hello, she should also bring over the koeksisters over. She loved them, she really did, but she enjoyed her phone more and if she didn't socialize with her neighbors who were right there her Oupa (grandfather) would say that he doesn't see the point of having a phone to socialize with people far away when she ignores those right in front of her. It's not that she didn't see his point, but new people were a lot harder to read then people she knew, but then again, she'd graduate next year and her Oupa (grandfather) wouldn't let her get away with a half assed education, she was going to university whether she liked it or not and from there she'd have to get a job, so talking to the neighbors was a piece of cake compared to talking to her counselor who would once again hassle her about not knowing what she wants to do for the rest of her life, she didn't even know what she wanted to do for the rest of the day.  
Rolling her eyes as she pulled on a pair of dark jeans and one of her Agya's (father) old shirts, tucking it in slightly before pulling on a blue flannel to cover up some of the busy pattern of the Kente cloth. After rolling up the sleeves and cuffing them right under her elbow she ran her fingers through her hair, loosening the tangles before fluffing it up and tying a spare Kente cloth around the frizzy puff ball to keep it out of her eyes. After putting on a thin layer of lipstick and adjusting the Kimoyo beads on her wrist she nodded at her reflection before walking down the stairs and looking out the window quickly to spot three people who she guessed weren't the removal men. Upon counting the three koeksisters on the plate she rolled her eyes, the abosom were really testing her today. Rolling her eyes with a slight smirk she twisted her petia ring, with a content nod she picked up the plate and walked out of her house, grabbing her keys and phone off the table as she went.  
Walking the short distance between her house and the new neighbors she smiled at a woman who was wearing a red cardigan and blue shirt as she made her way over. The woman had just finished taking a lamp out of the truck parked in front of her and was talking to the young brunette who was standing next to her: she couldn't hear what they were saying but judging by the embarrassed look on the girl's face, she probably didn't want to know.

"Hello." Samara greeted with an easy smile, her voice slipping into the accent of and East Londoner, not that she wasn't, she had grown up in Peckham after all. 

"Hi." the younger girl greeted while the woman Samara assumed was her mother looked her over.

"I'm your new neighbor, Samara. I live just next door, thought I'd introduce myself before my Oupa comes over and tells you my life story." she introduced with a joke.

"I'm Maria, Maria Jackson. This is my mum-" the young brunette began to introduce before her mother cut her off by saying her name, "Chrissy."

"Pleasure to meet you both." Samara replied with a smile before remembering the plate in her hand, "Oh, these are koeksisters, I thought you might want a treat while you're moving in. I'd bring something better but we haven't got anything in and I'm awful at cooking. But don't worry, I didn't make these, my Oupa did so they should be heavenly." she rambled.

"What are... erm..." Maria started, trying to not be rude.

"Koeksisters. They're basically South African doughnuts, but we make them coated in honey instead of glaze or whatever you lot normally have." she explained with a nod.

"Thanks." the girl said, looking at them with slightly more interest.

"Do you want me to put these inside or..." Samara questioned, gesturing towards the plate.

"Yes, that will do." Chrissy instructed. With a nod Samara walked into the house. It was strange, the house had the same layout as her own but it lacked the warmth and color, the Jacksons had a lot of work cut out for them if they wanted to have a proper home rather than this hollow building. Walking into the kitchen she set the plate down on the counter, her eyebrows furrowing at the subtle differences between her house and this one. 

"Hi." a hesitant voice of a man cut through, bringing Samara to look in the direction of a man in a grey and black striped shirt.

"Hi. Samara Inqua. I'm your neighbor." she introduced, holding out her left hand for him to shake. After a short confused shuffle he shook her hand and introduced himself saying, "Alan Jackson."

"Pleasure. I was just dropping these off." she explained pointing at the plate on the counter, "I'm sure as soon as my Oupa (grandfather) meets you he'll invite you all to dinner, however with my lack of culinary talents and his busy schedule it'll be a few days. Sorry." the girl apologized.

"Oh thank you." Alan said with a smile, nodding.

"It's honestly no big deal, I'd be more worried if we didn't have you over." she brushed off with a shake of her head.

"So which house are you?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the wall.

"I'm just next door, and don't worry, it'll be practically empty next week if you work from home."

"Why?"

"I'll be at school and my Oupa spends a lot of time at work: he runs Inqua Auto in the south east side of the city."

"And your Oupa, who's that?"

"Oh, right, sorry! He's my grandfather, Lusapho Inqua." Samara explained, the word grandfather so foreign on her tongue. 

"Right. Okay." Alan nodded, glad the confusion was cleared up.

"So, do you need any help bringing things in?" she asked, looking at the many boxes that were scattered in small piles around the house.

"No, you don't have to; we've got the removal men. Thank you though." he denied, walking her out of the house.

"It's no problem." she deflected before spotting Sarah Jane's car in her driveway. "I should probably head across the street though, she's expecting me. It's been nice meeting you Mr. Jackson. Ube nemini emnandi (Have a nice day)." she said, lifting two fingers in farewell before crossing the street and heading over to the house of Sarah Jane Smith, leaving behind a confused looking man.

Samara's dark fingers pressed the doorbell before she waited for the homeowner to show up. A few minutes passing before a slightly grumpy looking Sarah Jane showed up at the door. "Rough day?" she questioned, leaning up against the door frame.

"You have no idea." Sarah Jane replied in greeting, stepping aside to invite Samara into the house.

"What happened?" she inquired, stepping in.

"I'm being ignored." the woman answered, closing the door and facing the teen.

"Ngubani na (By who)?" Samara asked, accidentally slipping into Xhosa, only to have Sarah Jane raise an eyebrow in return. Upon noticing her mistake she corrected herself, asking, "Who is ignoring you Sarah?"

"Sarah Jane." the woman corrected under her breath before answering, "Bubble Shock!"

"The soda pop company." she clarified.

"You know it?"

"Wonke umntu uyazi ukuba uSara Jane, akuyona inkampani encinane (Everyone knows it Sarah Jane, it's not exactly a small company)." the girl muttered with a scoff. "What do you   
think is wrong with it?"

"I don't know."

"Sarah Jane, Anansi drinks Bubble Shock! If there's something wrong with it..." she said in a warning tone.

"A lot more people than Anansi drink it."

"I know, but I can't think about everyone Sarah. What have you figured out so far?"

"I don't want to worry you." Sarah Jane dismissed, walking into the living room.

"I'm worried now." she argued, following behind her and plopping down on the couch.

"Bubble Shock appeared out of nowhere. It usually takes years to get cleared by the EU, Bubble Shock got it in two weeks." the woman explained.

"So they've got good resources. Doesn't sound like your type of story."

"I didn't think so either until I had some of my scientist friends take a look at it, specifically Bane-"

"And they couldn't identify it." Samara interrupted, rubbing her temples.

"Exactly. But more then that, the sample resisted analysis."

"So it's alien. Yiza (come on)! I couldn't just have one normal week before going back to school?"

"You don't have to help Sam. If it's too much you can just stay here and read while I figure it out." Sarah Jane said gently, looking at the girl.

"No. I already know about it. I'd be too worried if I didn't do anything. So, what's the plan?" Samara retorted, shaking her head.

"Sarah Jane." a male voice echoed through the house. The woman in question instantly hopped up and walked towards the attic.

"Yintoni indoda yakho efuna (what does your husband want)?" Samara questioned in a joking tone, following after her. Walking up the stairs without much effort the girl reached the top and entered Sarah Jane's attic, a smile instantly working its way onto her face at the sight, no matter how many times she had seen it before. There were artifacts scattered around the room, a bit of alien and a bit of Earth with the added in artifacts Samara couldn't identify. Shaking away the feeling she got every time she entered, the girl walked over to Mr. Smith, a super computer in the wall.

Mr. Smith had been around for as long as she knew Sarah Jane; however, according to the woman, she had just set him up before the girl moved across the road. He was an incredibly intelligent crystalline lifeform that helped the women track and take care of extra terrestrial people who came down to Earth.   
Standing next to Sarah Jane, Samara looked at the image of the Earth that was displayed Mr. Smith's monitor. There were orange points at all of the Bubble Shock factories around the globe with spider like tendrils spreading out along their shipping routs, almost all the world was covered and if Sarah Jane was correct the image was slightly terrifying. 

"I've done a calculation and only 2.76% of the population with access to Bubble Shock doesn't drink it." Mr. Smith said, the globe on his monitor spinning to show all the area covered by the orange. The only bit of relief of the image was the lack of orange in Africa, particularly over the country of Wakanda, where quite a lot of her friends were.

"Yeah, the 2% is people with taste buds that Bubble Shock doesn't taste good with. That's what a lot of people are saying." Samara informed with a nod, remembering when she'd first tasted the strange soda.

"You're a part of the 2%, right?" Sarah Jane questioned.

"Yeah, same with my Oupa (grandfather), but even if we weren't we probably wouldn't drink too much. I try to stay away from processed foods, my malume (uncle) thinks I'd get addicted and never visit him if I eat too much." Samara explained, huffing a laugh at her Wakandan uncle's worries.

"Yeah, I remember. What's the remaining 0.76%?"

"People who can't afford it." the girl suggested before the computer could reply.

"And people who, like Samara, stay away from processed foods and energy drinks." Mr. Smith added, confirming Samara's guess.

"So, we have a lot of people addicted to an energy drink that could be created by aliens. That doesn't mean it's necessarily bad but we should probably look into it." the girl replied with a nod, sitting down on the step down to the landing Mr. Smith was built on.

"What do you think I've been doing?" Sarah Jane asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

"Right! Sorry. Erm... What do you want me to do?"

"They haven't been responding to my emails. Want to send some more?"

"I'll send so many emails that's all they'll see." Samara replied, rushing over to the woman's computer as she nodded and picked up a phone, asking Mr. Smith for the number before punching it in. When Samara had reached the computer she began sending email after email to different officials at the factory, signing them all, Sarah Jane Smith.


	2. Attack on Bannerman Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samara just wanted to sleep, is that too much to ask?

After hours of typing away and sending emails Samara finally stood up from the computer. Stretching out with a groan the girl felt her joints pop back into place as her tense muscles relaxed slightly. Glancing out the window she noticed how dark it had become, her ability to get lost in what she was doing was a trait quite a lot of people found annoying, especially her ex-girlfriend who spend one too many dates waiting for the girl to show up. Shaking away any thoughts of the girl who had already graduated and moved far away, Samara rolled her shoulders back and glanced around the small attic for Sarah Jane, not spotting her she walked out, smiling slightly at the hidden sight of Mr. Smith, who's case was closed and hidden away as a brick portion of the wall. 

Hopping down the steps two at a time Samara looked around the dark house before acknowledging the buzzing phone that rested in her back pocket, answering without even looking at the name she greeted with a cheerful, "Inqua Mortuary, you stab it we slab it, how may I help you?"

"What are you still doing up?" the accent heavy voice of Lusapho Inqua questioned through the phone.

"Sarah Jane asked me for help on a project." the girl answered, her accent that had previously been one of an Eastern Londoner quickly transferring to the Ashanti/Xhosa accent she had throughout her childhood and any time she was talking to a member of her family.

"You're supposed to be asleep." her Oupa commented.

"If I'm supposed to be asleep, why did you call?" the girl asked in return before hearing a scoff from the older man.

"Because I'm stupid. Are you still over the road?" 

"Yes, the new neighbors moved in over the road, I gave them the last of the koeksisters and told them to expect you to come over to invite them for dinner."

"Good. Are you going to spend the night at Ms. Smith's?"

"Might as well, if I keep this up, I can be her assistant once school is over."

"Mara, you're going to college." her Oupa cut in with a stern voice, leaving no room to argue.

"I know Oupa, I was just joking." she replied meekly before a bright pink light flooded the house coming from the back yard. "Sarah Jane-"

"Ms. Smith."

"Ms. Smith needs my help with something. I'll see you tomorrow Oupa."

"Alright. NoDa yie (goodnight)." the man said in farewell, Samara echoing the final words before she followed the light into the back where Sarah Jane stood with an ethereal alien.  
It was beautiful, she was a semi see through being that glowed hues of pink and purple. She floated above the ground near Sarah Jane and turned around the woman, so she was facing Samara as well. The woman's voice came out like a beautiful song, Sarah Jane reading the translation off a device in her hands while Samara simply stood there listening to her with a smile. She handed Sarah Jane a device in the shape of a small shield before giving a small smile to Samara and flying off into space.  
With a shake of her head the older woman pulled the girl inside. "I thought you were going to propose with the look you were giving her." the woman joked causing Samara to blush slightly and sputter, her voice returning to her British accent, "She was just, really pretty. Do you think she took offence to it?"

"No," Sarah Jane started with a smile as she closed the door behind her, "I think she found it quite alright. Might have even been a little flattered. But please don't marry an alien, would you? I don't think my heart could handle it." 

"Well it's not legal for me to get married in most countries, so... Sure, and if I do, I'll ask first." Samara promised, her tone joking but leaving a bad taste in her mouth, like Bree or moldy tangerines. 

"You could become a politician and change that." Sarah Jane suggested as they went to the kitchen that sat next to the living room that Samara spent most of her spare time since becoming a friend of the journalist's.

"Yeah, like people would vote to have the black gay woman to be their leader, never mind the fact that I'm an immigrant." 

"You were two Samara, you grew up in London."

"Yeah, but people don't see it like that." she retorted, opening a cupboard and pulling out two cups while the older woman put a kettle of water on the stove. Dragging out a drawer Samara took out the box of peppermint tea and opening it, pulling out two teabags and plopping them in their respective cups before closing everything up and putting it away. "What was that thing she gave you?"

"Long range communicator." Sarah Jane answered, taking the hint to drop the topic.

"So, we could call her. She's lucky she ran into you and not some other human that would abuse that power." the girl commented handing the older woman a light blue cup with a teabag in it while she kept her orange one resting on the counter.

"Or someone who would call the army out of fear." Sarah Jane added with a sad nod.

"Where'd you get on the Bane issue? Cause I spent the whole day sending them emails, so I'd say they know who you are by now." 

"I called every number I could get my hands on, although oddly enough there were no phones in the factories."

"Emails, but no phones... That's sketchy, but then again, they could just be old fashioned."

"That's what I thought, about it being out of the ordinary I mean. So, I checked in with UNIT and they still haven't been able to identify what Bane is, if they can't finish their report by next week, they'll seek military action."

"They can't do that, too many people could get hurt." Samara argued.

"I know, that's why we're figuring it out before them. We can call them in when absolutely necessary but not now." Sarah Jane stated.

"Business as usual then?"

"Business as usual." the woman replied before being interrupted by the whistling of the teapot.

========================

Samara woke up to the sun glaring on her face, with a groan she sat up, looking around the clean room that was very much not her own. It took a minute for her to register the fact that she had once again slept over at Sarah Jane's house, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence, she typically stayed over after working late with the woman even though her house was just across the street. 

Pushing her unruly hair out of her face with a huff the girl stood up, quickly making the bed she typically slept in the girl trudged to the bathroom, looking at her reflection in the mirror. After wetting her hands the girl pushed her hair back, shaping it slightly before tying the Kente cloth from yesterday back around her slightly more controlled curls. Glancing over herself in the mirror she pulled out the toothbrush she kept in the drawer after her fifth overnight and brushed her teeth, washing her face afterwards and rolling her shoulders back with a sigh as she sighted the dark bags under her eyes. Shaking her head the girl did a final once over in the mirror before walking out of the bathroom and back into the guest room, picking up her half dead phone and unworn coat from the nightstand and the floor.   
Checking her phone, she realized she had three missed texts, all from different people. Checking through them from the most recent one sent to the oldest she opened the message from the contact name SHADES. 'OBOSOM MISSION IS TAKING LONGER THAN EXPECTED, SEE YOU TONIGHT.' With a sigh Samara replied to her friend with a quick, 'Looking forward to it. Are you bringing Mel?'

Less than a minute later Phil answered with, 'I'LL TRY TO CONVINCE HER.'

Checking her other texts, she saw that she had a text from BIRDMAN that was simply a picture of a dog and another text from OUPA asking her to text him when she woke up. Sending a quick one over Samara left the room only to look down the hallway to see Sarah Jane bracing herself against the door that was violently shaking while three teens stood off to the side. Recognizing Maria Jackson, her new neighbor, Samara quickly headed over to them, picking up on the fear that seemed to flood out of the darker skinned girl that stood next to Maria.

"What is it? What is it? What is that thing? What is it?" the girl questioned, screaming as she watched the door.

"Hi Maria, how's your day been going?" Samara asked, standing next to the girl as she put her hands in her pockets.  
At the same time a boy Samara couldn't place who was wearing all white clothes greeted the other two teens, "Hello, Maria. Hello, Screaming Girl. Hello -"

"Samara." the girl supplied, looking at the boy with a smile.

"There's a great big alien out there!" Maria complained, looking at the two as if they were insane for exchanging pleasantries while a creature from outer space was trying to break down the door.

"What is it? What is it?" the other girl continued to question.

"Get upstairs." Sarah Jane ordered loudly to the teenagers that were standing motionless at the bottom of the stairs as it getting harder for her to hold whatever was pounding on the door back. 

"We're not allowed." the nameless boy argued, causing Samara to look at him in confusion, "Look, you're allowed now." she said her Xhosa accent taking over her voice as she grew stressed, mainly due to the girl who was screaming at the door, pushing him and Maria towards them.

"What is that thing?" the girl asked again before Samara opened her mouth to explain that while she didn't know exactly it was probably an alien and she should probably run first and question it later, but before she could get a word out she was interrupted.

"Just shut up and move!" Maria shouted, taking a leaf out of the older girl's book and pulling her to the stairs, Samara doing the same for the boy as a tentically creature ripped off the front door and threw it away, scurrying in across the ceiling.

"All of you, just run! As fast as you can." Sarah Jane yelled, running up behind the four.

"Ucinga ukuba senza ntoni? Ukuthatha uhambo lokuhamba phakathi kobusuku? (What do you think we're doing? Taking a midnight stroll?)" Samara quipped lightly as she went up the stairs, two at a time. Once they reached the top landing Sarah Jane stopped the four kids, the two younger girls looking terrified, so much so that Samara could almost feel it rolling off them in waves. 

"He's coming up the stairs. We're gonna die! What is that thing?" the darker skinned girl in the pink and orange coat questioned as they watched the alien go up the stairs by leaps and bounds. "He's coming!" she narrated, backing away from the stairs going up.

"Wait here." Sarah Jane instructed, opening the door to the final stairs that lead up to the attic where all her equipment was.

"What's up there?" Maria asked, going to follow.

"No, you can't go up. I'll be ten seconds. Just ten seconds." Sarah Jane said, avoiding the question as she turned to go up. Looking back for a second to give Samara a look that clearly told her to protect the younger ones, not that she needed instructions.

"You will die, Miss Smith. You and the squealing pigs." the creature said, it's voice deep and slightly British. 

Samara quickly stepped in front of the teens, pushing them further behind her. Kelsey gladly used her as a shield, pulling the boy in front of her as well as the older girl addressed the creature in front of them. "Who are you?" she inquired, looking at it with steady eyes despite the fear that swam through her veins, although oddly enough it didn't feel like it was entirely hers.

"I do not answer to you." the creature retorted as it stalked forwards.

"Fine, keep your secret. We'll find out anyways." the girl said, playing it cool as she waited for Sarah Jane to swoop in and save the day, per usual. Although she glanced at the surrounding walls she knew so well and made a secondary plan like her maame (aunt) and wɔfa-nom (uncles) had taught her in one of their many safety classes, taking in the surroundings and thinking about how she could use them to help her.

"This is not happening. This is so not happening." the girl in pink whimpered from where she hid.  
"But that contradicts the facts." the boy retorted, confused. Huffing slightly in amusement Samara stepped forwards towards the alien, looking into it's big blue eye with a shaky look in her own, "Leave, now. We'll have to stop you if you don't, and I don't want to do that."

"First the children and then you and the old woman." the creature planned, backing up to lunge at the four teens.

"Hey! Less of the old." Sarah Jane shouted, coming out of the attic carrying a small alien fire extinguisher the two had picked up a few months ago. The woman caught Samara's eye and threw it to her, upon catching it she directed it towards the creature, firing it. As the white stream of mist hit the creature it fell down the stairs to the landing below and turned into a posh looking man in a suit.

"It's the muffin." the unnamed girl exclaimed.

"That's a muffin?" both the boy and Samara said in sync, looking at the teenager in confusion as the man stood up shakily and ran down the rest of the stairs. 

"Pity. That was the last one." Sarah Jane commented, taking the device from Samara and tossing it aside carelessly upon seeing it was empty. The front door slammed as she walked down a few steps to scoop up some of the black goo left behind by the supposed 'muffin'. Samara followed behind her and poked the stuff with a pencil watching with a contemplative look as the thick substance stuck to the wood, only falling off in clumps. 

"What's going on?" Maria asked, crouching down next to the two and watching them in interest. Sarah Jane looking far more professional than Samara as she put the residual substance in a test tube as apposed to Samara who just seemed to be playing around with it until the older woman took away her pencil.

"Maria, don't get involved." Sarah Jane said, brushing aside the question.

"I think it's a little bit too late for that." Maria replied causing Samara to nod

"Yeah, you're right." she started her voice changing back to the English one Maria had heard before, looking up from the goo and so she was looking Maria in the eyes, "I'm Samara, this is Sarah Jane, we protect the world from aliens, like the one you just saw. We don't know who or what he is but it's safe to assume this has something to do with Bubble Shock, a soda pop company that we think is run by aliens. That goo right there on the ground is probably some residual substance left behind when the creature turned back into a human, technology with does in fact exist in several galaxies." Samara explained quickly, keeping even eye contact the entire time as she gestured with her hands as if it would help prove her point.

"Seriously?" the girl who stood up the stairs from them questioned.

"No, I'm lying. Everything you just saw was in your head." the older girl retorted her voice dry of all humor.

"You saved our lives." Maria commented, bringing the attention back to her.

"I suppose we did." Sarah Jane said, a small smile working its way onto her face as the other girl snuck her way up the final steps and into the attic.

"Oh, my flipping heck." the girl exclaimed from out of sight; Samara and Sarah Jane's heads went up in shock as they looked towards the attic that had played host to a great number of their late nights and dangerous adventures.

"No! Don't go up there!" Sarah Jane shouted, running up the stairs with Samara, Maria and the unnamed boy following them. 

The attic was the same and when the oldest of the four teens had left it the night before, it's overfull bookshelves and scattered memorabilia from adventures shared both with Samara and before she was around made the teen feel at home, even though she had only known the older woman for a few years the attic made her feel safe, a feeling that had only happened in a few places before.

Looking at the teen in the bright pink coat in annoyance Sarah Jane demanded, "Who said you could come up here? Don't touch anything."

"These things, are they alien?" Maria questioned, looking around the attic in awe.

"Some of them." Sarah Jane commented, looking down at a picture of the Brigadier Samara had heard so much about, and Sarah Jane with K9 in the earlier days of her career fighting alien invasion. 

"Where'd you get them?" Maria asked, looking genuinely curious as Samara pursed her lips and decided to let Sarah Jane answer all the questions while she pulled out her phone and checked her texts seeing she had a new one from MAAME ANANSE saying, 'COULSON WILL BE LOOKING AFTER YOU TONIGHT, MAKE SURE HE DOESN'T MAKE YOU WATCH THE OLD CAPT. AMERICA FILMS.'

Samara laughed slightly before replying with a quick text, typing out, ;'Not that I'm much better, he'd rather stab his eyes out with a spoon than watch LotR again, not that that'll stop me.' As she listened to Sarah Jane's answer of, "I suppose you've seen too much now, and with Samara told you in the hall. It's not as if anyone's going to believe you. Aliens are falling to Earth all the time. It's not just those stories you hear on the news. All sorts of creatures. Some have got lost, like the one you saw me sending home last night. Some of them crash-land, and some of them want to invade. You still believe me?" The woman walked over to the stairs and sat down as she was talking, Maria copying her motions.

"Yes."

"Really? How come?" 

"Because you're bonkers, but I don't think you're a liar." Maria admitted honestly, angling her body to face the woman.

"Oh well, that's nice to know. No, except about the bonkers bit." Sarah Jane said.

"Well to be fair, she did just meet you. What happened anyways 'cause I haven't felt this left out since the shop window dummies of doom." Samara commented, looking down at her phone when it buzzed in her hand. She had another text from MAAME ANANSE reading, 'HIDE THE SPOONS BEFORE HE COMES OVER THEN ;)'

"I went to the Bubble Shock factory and found Maria there with him. We escaped from the guards. Maria showed up half an hour later with Kelsey and the alien." Sarah Jane summarized.

"Okay, cool. Wait, why didn't you wake me up? I could've gone with you."

"You stayed up late."

"Wouldn't be the first time."

"Fine, next time I break into a factory that might be host to aliens I'll wake you up."

"Thank you." Samara replied, half serious as she leaned against the wall.

"This place is beautiful." the boy stated, looking around the space.

"Thank you." Sarah Jane said with a smile, looking at the boy who had started to wander around the attic.

"Not bad yourself, fella." the girl Samara believed was called Kelsey butted in, looking at the boy in appreciation.

He froze slightly, looking at Kelsey in confusion, questioning, "What does that mean?"

"Oh, he's mine." she claimed, avoiding the question.

"No, he's not. He's not anyone's, he clearly doesn't understand what's going on and I think you should back off until he does." Samara stated, stepping in front of the boy who was asking Maria, "Is that good or bad?"

"Why? Do you fancy him of somethin'?" the teen questioned, looking the older girl up and down.

"No!" she protested, "He's way to young besides the fact that I am very, very gay. But that's besides the point, back off Kelsey, okay." When she was given a meek and shocked okay from the girl, Samara backed down, walking back up next to the wall, the boy following her like a lost puppy.


	3. The Bane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saving the world, again.

"You're gay?" Kelsey questioned, looking at the girl in shock.

"Yes, I am." Samara confirmed, looking at her blankly before the adrenalin of the last task wore off and she pursed her lips glancing around the room. "Never mind that, you three have had a fright, I'll erm... Tea! Yeah, I'll go make some tea." the girl rambled heading towards the door and leaving only to pop her head back in a second later with a questioning look in her eyes. "I was going to make green tea and mint, is that good for everyone here?" she asked. After hearing chimes of yes coming from half the room, she nodded and rushed down the stairs to fetch some tea and biscuits. 

As she made her way to the kitchen, she tried to calm her breathing, all she had been through and social situations still brought on the sinking feeling in her stomach. She knew she'd be fine, it was just hard, especially when there wasn't a threat to distract from her anxieties or a problem she could solve with the stroke of a pen. She had always been better at writing then talking, or even translating, repeating someone's words through a different means was far easier than making your own words. 

Putting the already slightly hot kettle on the stove she turned in on, pulling a few multicolored mugs out before she took the box of tea bags from the drawer and plopped a bag in each cup before closing It up and putting it away. After she was finished the teen looked around for a tray, she could use to carry the tea upstairs only to come up empty. 

"Yiza! Ndiyazi ukuba uSara unalo. (Come on! I know Sarah has one.)" she mumbled under her breath in Xhosa. Rolling her eyes, the girl wandered into the living room in search for the tray only to find it resting on the coffee table with two still full cups of tea and sandwiches. Upon further inspection she realized that the cups had gone cold, meaning they'd been out for a while. Shaking her head slightly she carried the tray back and emptied out the cups in the sink before making the sandwiches look neater and placing the five mugs on top and waiting for the tea pot to boil. 

The girl drummed her fingers on the countertop as she waited, staring at the pot as if it would boil faster, only to give in with a sigh and check her phone for any texts. Spying a media message from the contact labeled VALINOR, the corners of her lips perked up at the sight of her name as she opened the message, reading it in the woman's voice. 'Samara, now that you're back from Wakanda, there's something I need you to translate. I sent it to your monitor, but if you could get it done by the end of the day, I'd appreciate it.'

Blowing out a breath she typed back her response, 'I'll look at it but I'm a bit busy today, so it might take me a bit longer to finish it. I'll send it to you when it's done.'

A little more than a second later there was a response, 'What are you doing? You said you would be free for the rest of your summer once you got back from seeing your Aunt and Uncle.'

'Yeah, well, something came up.'

'Believe or not I was able to decipher that. I'm asking you what it is because if it's something dangerous I don't want you to do it alone.'

Huffing slightly, she rolled her eyes, she was capable of much more than a stupid alien invasion plan. Valinor always did this! She always found a way to make Samara feel inferior and like she wasn't capable of even walking to the store without assistance. With a frustrated burst she replied with a quick, 'Expect the translation in a few days.' Before she closed her phone, hearing the whistle of the kettle.

Screaming. There was so much screaming. Everything was dark and loud. Their emotions flowed off them in waves, their fear. It was paralyzing to Samara but there was nothing she could do, nothing they could do. Her breath came out in short bursts, there was no light. Her hand flew to leather strap that decorated her wrist, hiding the tattoo she never wanted as it seared with pain. Her head hurt, she felt like she was suffocating, the air too thick with fear for her to do anything than just stand there. 

Then it stopped, the sound of her heavy breathing filled the air and she felt her heart beating fast like a drum, no not a drum, never that. With a shake of her head Samara turned off the stove, she picked up the tea pot and poured the water into the cups before setting it back down on the stovetop. Picking up the tray and carrying it up the stairs and back into the attic where she saw Sarah Jane sitting on the stairs again, Maria sitting next to her as the nameless boy wandered around the room and Kelsey sat on the couch that rested against the wall.

"How long's he gone for?" Maria questioned as Samara handed out the cups of tea.

Just as the older teen was about to question what the girl meant, Sarah Jane answered, "I don't know, but I miss him. And don't you laugh, Kelsey Hooper. But he was my dog, my daft little metal dog. And now, I'm on my own, besides Samara of course."

"I missed K-9?" the Inqua girl questioned, frowning as she handed Kelsey a cup of tea.

"Yes. Sorry Samara." the journalist apologized, looking at her sadly.

"Dammit! I love that dog." she commented quietly with a sigh before shaking her head and putting the tray of sandwiches down as she gave the boy a cup of tea and took her own.  
Maria wandered over to the middle of the room and picked up the shield shaped hand device looking at it while Sarah Jane concocted a potion out of the black goo she picked up off the stairs. "What's this, then?" Maria asked, showing the two women the device.

"It's some sort of communicator. It was a gift from the person you saw last night. She said if I ever needed help, I could use it to call her." Sarah Jane answered as Samara leaned against the wall again, sipping at her tea as she watched the scene from afar.

"Then let's call her." Maria exclaimed, handing the device to her.

"She meant help with poetry." Sarah Jane corrected only to have Samara quietly add, "She was a Star Poet from Arcateen Five." With a nod the woman continued by saying, "That's not much use. Unless you want to rhyme trouble with double."

"Let me see." the boy asked, reaching towards the device. Sarah Jane nodded, handing it over while Maria issued a warning, saying a quick, "Careful."

"He knows nothing about the world. Everything's new to him. I think he's an experiment, like those aliens created him." Sarah Jane explained to both Maria and Samara. After hearing that the aliens might have created him the older teen let her paranoia get the best of her and closed her eyes slightly before opening them with a slight smile, trusting the boy.

"He's their child." Maria clarified.

"But he's still human." the woman retorted gently, only to be brought back into the moment when the communicator the boy was messing with beeped. "If you don't mind." she said quickly, taking the device back and putting it in the pocket of the cardigan she was wearing. "I don't like people going through my things." she explained.

"That device on your wrist, it detects alien life?" the boy questioned, completely unfazed by the mistrust of Sarah Jane.

"That's right." she answered.

"Then what's it detecting now?"

"How do you mean?" the woman asked only to check it and find it was beeping, "He's right." she exclaimed.

"There might be another one of those things out there?" Maria asked worried. 

"I don't think so." she said as she looked around the room.

"No, wait a minute." Sarah Jane exclaimed walking around with the signal only to find it got stronger as she approached Kelsey who had abandoned her tea to drink some Bubble Shock.

"What?" Kelsey inquired, completely confused.

"Kelsey! You're an alien!" Maria shouted in shock.

"Oh, you wish." the girl retorted, scoffing as she went to take a sip of her soda. Walking up to the group with the boy fallowing behind her, Samara grabbed the bottle of orange pop out of the teen's hands and handed it over to Sarah Jane.

"I don't think it's her."

"Yeah, it's not her." the woman replied, scanning the drink while Kelsey protested, "Oi, that's mine." 

"It's the drink. It's that ingredient, Bane." she reported, reading it off her watch.

"Yeah, well, it's organic." retorted the girl as she sat on the couch in defeat.

"More than that. It's alive. Species identified, Bane. It's not just an ingredient, it's an alien! This is the secretion of..." the woman read, stumbling towards the end as she squinted at the end, "I need glasses.: she huffed slightly causing the oldest teen in the room to pull her arm towards her and read the last bit off, "Secretion of a Bane Mother."

"I could've done it." Sarah Jane grumbled annoyed.

"I know, sorry Sarah." the girl apologized, shuffling her feet slightly before she shook her head and added, "But you're missing the point, there is a piece of living Bane inside every bottle of Bubble Shock."

"I've been drinking that stuff, and it's alien?" Kelsey exclaimed, standing up in shock.

"I thought you didn't believe in aliens." Maria snarked only to be met with the retort of Kelsey when she said, "Oh, you can shut up. I've got things from outer space living in my stomach."

"What are you going to do about it?" she asked, directing the question at Samara and more specifically Sarah Jane.

"It's not my fault." the woman replied, brushing it off, only to be met with Samara and Kelsey's unimpressed looks as soon as the words left her mouth, however the younger of the two as far more vocal about it.

"Yeah? You've got all this stuff, all these gadgets, and you sit here talking, yapping on all day about planets and monsters. What good is that? Why don't you actually do something?" she questioned, her fear so strong it felt like a stone in Samara's stomach causing her to feel slightly dizzy at the reminder. Sitting down as the other three teens followed Sarah Jane to the fireplace on the other side of the attic.

"All right, Kelsey. Just you watch. Mister Smith?" 

"Yes, Sarah Jane?" Mr. Smith inquired from his hiding place.

"We need you." the woman answered. 

Suddenly a fanfare sounded, and the brick fireplace cracked open and lifted up revealing a set of consoles topped by a large screen, the sight that used to never fail to bring a smile to Samara's face wasn't enough this time as she sat in the corner going over the grounding techniques Martha had told her, barely hearing Sarah Jane's explanation that "Mister Smith's a computer."

"An alien computer." Maria said in awe.

"Five. Five things you can see." Samara muttered in inaudibly, not wanting to slip again, they didn't have time for that.

"Mister Smith, I want a direct visual link to Mrs Wormwood at the Bane factory. Can you get coordinates?" Sarah Jane instructed.

"Sarah Jane's computer. Her desk." 

"Accessing." the computer announced.

"Empty bird cage we have for some reason."

"What, you can just phone her up?" Maria asked, looking from Mr. Smith to Sarah Jane.

"Book shelf."

"Mister Smith can hack into anything." the woman explained.

"Stack of books that are on the floor even though we have a book shelf."

"But why do you want to talk to them?" Maria questioned, her eyebrows pulling together.

"Four. Four things you feel."

"Because I want to be fair." Sarah Jane replied, looking directly at Mr. Smith, the teens following her action in anticipation.

"My hair." she said, stretching out one of her curls before releasing it back into her head.

"013457689014658757562987032105 dash 5." Mr. Smith read out, displaying the number on the screen.

"Agya's (dad's) shirt." she mumbled, feeling the buttons that were probably older than she was.

"That's like their phone number." Sarah Jane mused.

"My tea." the girl whispered, tapping the cup she would've been surprised that she hadn't spilt if she were able to think properly. "Tosh's gift." the sighed, feeling the edge of the leather bracelet that sat on her left arm, feeling the slightly worn edge of the simple strap.

"Visual link connecting." Mr. Smith notified.

"Three."

"Mrs. Wormwood." Sarah Jane greeted.

"Three things you hear."

"Oh, very clever." the unfamiliar voice of a woman said, the words barely herd by Samara, however one could probably connect the dots and say she was Mrs. Wormwood.

"Sarah Jane's voice."

"Thanks for the assassination attempts." the woman in question snarked.

"Mr. Smith's machinery moving."

"My pleasure. The next one will involve harpoons." Mrs. Wormwood replied.

"My heartbeat. No... External... Birds?"

"I know who you are and what you are. Bane. Now leave this planet." Sarah Jane instructed.

"Two. Two things you smell."

"Are you declaring war?" the woman on the screen asked.

"Old Books." Samara said quietly, taking a whiff of the air. Her breathing relaxing, and her heartrate, that she totally wasn't focused on, was slowing down. But that wasn't the entire point of the practice, the point was to stop the panic attack she could feel coming, she's lucky she even brought the people in the attic their tea at this point.

"Mrs Wormwood, the universe is huge, and Earth is so small. You don't need to do this. I'm asking you, as one species to another, just leave this world. Leave us in peace. Please." Sarah Jane pleaded.

"Wood." the girl muttered, pulling herself out of her thoughts again as she struggled to not pay attention to her thoughts.

"And if I don't?" Mrs. Wormwood taunted.

"One."

"Then I'll have to do something." Sarah Jane warned.

"One thing you taste."

"Very well. In the language of your young ones, bring it on." the woman said carelessly, ending the transmission as Samara picked up her tea and downed it all in one gulp, burning her throat. 

"Oh shit! Okay. That's one way to do it I guess." Samara exclaimed quietly, her voice slightly hoarse as she breathed out a small puff of steam.

"Now, that didn't go well." Sarah Jane sighed, defeated, making Samara incredibly confused as she felt Sarah Jane's worry even though she tried to block it out.

"How're you gonna stop them?" Maria asked, looking at the woman.

"You tell me." 

"What? Do you mean you haven't got a plan? Nothing?"

"No. The people I fight have plans and weapons, but I don't. It's what makes me different." Sarah Jane argued, looking defeated.

"Wait... No... What- what happened?" Samara questioned, standing up from the couch and walking over to the four, facing Sarah Jane with a confused look on her face.

"Where you not paying attention? The fate of the world in the balance and you were just sitting there." Maria asked, completely frustrated at the people she thought were the experts.

"Yes. Care to fill me in?" the girl inquired, putting her hands in her pockets to hide the fact that they were clenched. "Although based on the overall tone of the room I'd say we have to save the world. Again." she guessed, looking at the younger girl whose worried look told her she was right. "Fantastic!" the muttered sarcastically before turning to Mr. Smith and staying, "The Bane Mister Smith, what can you tell us?"

"Pulling up information." the computer announced, pulling up the database and searching through it.

The boy who had been quiet since Sarah Jane took the device from him spoke again, this time in a slightly anxious tone saying, "Kelsey Hooper. Look!" 

The teen was shaking on the couch, her hand was reaching out towards the Bubble Shock that was placed on the table in front of her. "Help me." she pleaded, looking terrified.

"Oh my God, it's beginning. Kelsey, fight it." Sarah Jane exclaimed, rushing over to the girl with Samara, Maria and the boy following behind her. However, by the time they reached her she straightened up and held out the bottle instructing, "Drink it." to the four, standing up and walking towards them.

"It's the Bane. They're taking people over." Maria realized, her eyes wide and terrified.

"Information on the Bane." Mr. Smith announced however it was too late as Sarah Jane was already rushing them out saying, "Out. Quickly. Out!" She herded Maria out while Samara dragged the nameless boy.

"Drink it. Drink it. Drink it. Drink it." Kelsey chanted in a monotone voice, following them in a slow, steady pace. 

The four unaffected humans reached the outside of Sarah Jane's house in record timing, closing the door behind them as Sarah Jane pulled out her keys and walked towards her car, speaking her thoughts aloud by saying, "I've got to get to the factory."

"I'm coming with you." Maria stated, looking at the older woman for permission.

However instead she told the girl, "You are staying here."

With a frustrated huff the girl walked off, heading towards her house only to have Samara grab her arm and pull her back. "Maria, when I was in your house yesterday, I spied some Bubble Shock in one of the boxes of food. If you don't drink it, who does?"

"My dad." she answered hesitantly.

"She has to come with Sarah Jane. It's not safe for her here." the teen said, looking at her friend. 

However, after she heard Samara, Maria broke away slightly scared for her dad, rushing across the street to the man who was walking out of her house, Samara keeping pace with her while Sarah Jane tried to get the boy to get into the car. "Dad, Stay indoors. There's all this stuff happening." Maria instructed, slowing to a walk.

"Drink it." Alan Jackson instructed, walking towards her with a bottle of Bubble Shock stretched out in front of him.

"Dad, no! Dad!" Maria exclaimed, going to rush towards him only to be stopped by Samara, who was surprisingly strong despite being an inch shorter than her.

"Maria, it's not safe. If you want to help him, we need to go." the girl explained, holding the struggling girl against her as she looked down the road to see all their neighbors staggering down the road towards them like a hoard of zombies, all of them holding out bottles of Bubble Shock chanting the same mantra of "drink it" over and over again. 

"Dad, listen to me. It's not you, it's the thing. It's the drink. It's the Bane." Maria tried to argue, looking the fight for control against Samara until she stomped on the seventeen-year old's foot causing her to curse in Xhosa and let go.

"Drink it. Drink it." Mr. Jackson ordered, him and Maria walking towards each other until Samara grabbed Maria again, less gently this time.

"Maria, I promise I will find a way to get him back to normal, but if you get turned into a Bubble Shock zombie you won't be helping anyone. We can't help them now, the only thing we can do is get to the factory and find a way to reverse it." Samara explained in a deadly calm voice, her Xhosa accent taking over slightly, causing her to enunciate the words with a slight edge. When the girl stopped struggling with a nod Samara released her saying, "Let's get to the car, yeah?" sticking her hand out as an offering.

"Yeah." Maria replied, her tone sorrowful as she glanced at her dad who was heading towards them, continuing to instruct them to drink Bubble Shock, before grabbing Samara's outstretched hand and following her to Sarah Jane's car where the boy was already sitting in the back.

"This is bad, yes? I recognize bad." he questioned from the car.

"What are we gonna do?" Maria asked, releasing Samara's hand as the reached the car and she began to climb in the back.

"Maria, there are two types of people in the world. People who panic. And then there's us. You got that?" Sarah Jane answered, climbing in the driver's side as the older teen in the back pulled the chair back to allow the other girl to sit down.

"Got it." She nodded, bucking up and closing the door just as Sarah Jane drove off at top speed, swerving expertly to avoid all the pedestrians in the road, all of which were chanting the typical "drink it" Samara had already gotten used to. When they reached the factory Sarah Jane soniced the gates on the move and drove in, closing them behind them as the Bubble Shock zombies followed, blocking the gates and their only way out as they stretched their arms through the fence, trying to get inside.

"I'm going inside. You stay here." the woman instructed to which Samara agreed before she looked at her and saw Sarah Jane was instructing her too.

"No way!" Maria and Samara retorted in sync.

"Maria, you're staying here. I'm not though." 

"Yes. You are Samara."

"I've done far more dangerous things with the Doctor."

"That doesn't make it okay. You're still a kid Samara."

"Barely." the girl said indignantly, annoyed because she was technically an adult if you took her experience of time and not the rest of the world's.   
Rolling her eyes at the girl Sarah Jane ignored them going over to the factory doors and trying to sonic them open, only to come up empty. "They've got a deadlock seal." the woman sighed.

"What does that mean?" Maria questioned.

"We can't get in that way." Samara answered distractedly, looking around.

"We can't get in at all or is there a secret entrance you know about that I don't." Sarah Jane questioned hotly, turning to look at her only to see she was running off down the side of the building.

"Sarah Jane!" the boy shouted, pointing at the gate where they found the people had crowded all around the gate, leaving no chance for them to sneak past.

"We can't go back, we can't get in, and Samara ran off. What do we do?" Maria asked, panicked as she looked at the older woman.

"No. There's got to be a way of getting in. There's got to be. There must be something. What do I do? Oh, come on, Doctor, help me. Come on. Think." the woman muttered, pacing slightly as she tried to think of a plan, only to be distracted by music. She looked up to see the bright orange Bubble Shock bus driving up, stopping next to them before the driver opened the door and looked down at them.

"Coming?" Samara questioned, a smirk working its way onto her lips.

"Where'd you get that thing? Wait... No, where'd you get the key?" Maria asked, looking at the girl in a mixture of awe and confusion as she yanked a wire and disconnected the speaker.

"Oh, I didn't." she said, before explaining, "Hotwired."

"Where did you learn to hot wire a bus, let alone drive it?" Sarah Jane inquired in equal shock.

"Russia." she answered with a cheeky smile before asking, "Are we going or..."

"Yes." Sarah Jane said, climbing on with Maria and the boy following her. "When we get in there you three are to stay on the bus." Sarah Jane instructed, "And I'm driving."

"Have you ever driven a bus before?" Samara asked, closing the door and cutting off any chance Maria had to argue.

"No. But it can't be too hard."

"Yeah. I'm still driving."

"So, what's the plan?" Maria asked, leaning on the back of Samara's seat to look at the controls.

"We're going to crash. You might want to sit down." the teen explained, putting the bus in drive as the two women rushed to seats, Maria pulling the boy to sit down. After in the mirror to see everyone was seated, Samara drove forward with an animalistic grin on her face, charging full force into the front doors of the factory.

"Not too late for the party?" Sarah Jane asked while walking out of the bus.

"We're following her right?" Maria questioned, looking at Samara who was watching the interaction between Sarah Jane and a woman she couldn't identify, however had she been able to pay attention earlier she would've been able to know she was Mrs. Wormwood.

"Miss Smith." the woman replied in a voice that sounded like a hiss.

"Are you sure you want to?" Samara asked, looking at Maria, suddenly much more serious than she had been before, "And before you say yes think, really think. Because this life, it's dangerous, and once you get involved, really involved, there's no going back. You'll have to deal with this for the rest of your life, and you'll never really be able to get out of it."

"Is it worth it?" Maria asked and as Samara opened her mouth the girl continued, "Because from what I've seen, it's terrifying but Sarah Jane didn't talk about the stars and aliens with fear. So, it must be worth it right."

"It's the best choice I've ever made. But it's also the worst. You can still stop Maria."

"Yeah, but the thing is, I don't think I can."

"I warned you. Leave this planet." They heard Sarah Jane say from outside the bus.

"Have you met my mother?" Mrs. Wormwood asked, pointing upwards to something on the ceiling that the two girls couldn't see but based on Sarah Jane's shocked expression it must have been terrifying. 

"Okay Maria, time to make your choice. Once you step out those doors, nothing will ever be the same again." Samara warned, opening the bus door and standing up.

"I don't think I want it to be." she replied, holding her hand out to Samara.

"Right, let's go then." The teen grabbed her hand and they walked out of the bus together, the boy following behind them, however Samara used the leverage of Maria's hand to hide the two slightly behind her.

"Leave her alone!" she shouted at Mrs. Wormwood.

"Kwaye ngoku silahlekelwe amandla okubamangaza. (And now we've lost the element of surprise.)" Samara muttered grumpily in Xhosa.

"I told you to stay on board." Sarah Jane hissed, looking over at them.

"Too late for that." Maria retorted, letting go of Samara's hand and standing to the side of her as they both looked up to see the Bane Mother, a creature that looked to be a hoard of tentacles taking up the enter ceiling with a large orange eye at the center.

"Oh, you've brought us the Archetype." Mrs. Wormwood observed, looking at the boy who had also stepped out from behind Samara. At the tone of her voice Samara quickly guided him behind her before going to grip something under her over shirt, only to curse at the fact that she forgot to put it on that morning.

"He is a living, thinking human being. And you created him. What for?" Sarah Jane asked, walking over to the teens and taking a similar stance as Samara, however the latter was far more rigid than she.

"He's an assembly of thousands of different humans. A montage, you might say. A collage. On every tour of the factory, we'd scan the guests, all ten thousand of them, and then we fed every strength and every weakness into him. The Archetype." she explained carelessly.

"I am everyone." the boy said simply.

"But why?" Maria asked, looking over at the boy.

"The two percent that wouldn't touch Bane. The Archetype could tell us exactly how to modify our product." the woman explained to them, before stopping and adding on, "But since we've advanced our plans, he is no longer needed." With a twist of her ring the boy collapsed in pain behind Samara.

"No. No!" Maria exclaimed, rushing over to the boy who was paling quickly as Sarah Jane did the same, addressing Mrs. Wormwood in sadness and fear, "He's only a boy. I'm begging you, let him go."

With a look of slight hesitation on her face after looking at the boy, Samara took a shaking breath and looked at the woman who caused the pain she felt in her chest. "Stop it." she ordered, glaring at the woman.

"Oh, that's so sweet. But he's dying, and soon you will join him, like all our enemies. Our slave control is activated around the world. The time of man is over. The time of Bane is come." Mrs. Wormwood gloated as the people outside seemed to get louder, their chants of "drink it" seeming to get closer. "You've failed, Miss Smith. This is where your lonely life has led you." the woman continued, a smirk on her lips as the taunted the woman.

"Stop it!" Samara yelled, her nostrils flaring, and her hands clenched at her sides.

"Except she's not on her own. She's got Samara, and she's got me. And I've got this." Maria said, standing up and walking next to Samara, holding up a mobile phone and dialing a random contact. As it rang the Bane Mother retreated and Maria smiled in victory only for it to be cut short when Mrs. Wormwood addressed her, "The device is tiny, and now you've angered the Bane Mother. Do you really think that's wise?"

The Bane Mother reached down a tentacle, picking up a large steel pipe and swinging it towards Samara and Maria, however before she could hit them Samara tackled her to the ground nocking the wind out of the two but saving their lives none the less.

"Ow." Maria mumbled weakly.

"Sorry." Samara apologized with a wince before jumping up and grabbing her own pipe and standing in front of Sarah Jane, Maria and the Archetype in an effort to protect them. 

"I told you to stay away." Samara heard Sarah Jane tell Maria.

"Know what? I'm still glad I didn't." the girl replied huddling close to her as they watched Samara twirl the pipe expertly as she observed the Bane Mother.

"Mother, descend, and consume them." Mrs. Wormwood ordered, a large tentacle to come down and advance towards them.

"You forgot this." the Archetype said, gaining strength as he stood up to address Mrs. Wormwood, safe so long as Samara hashed it out with the Bane Mother's arm, the creature seeming to be playing with Samara, not that she cared if it kept them alive long enough to figure out how to save the day.

"What is that?" the woman asked, astonished at the fact that the boy was even standing.

"A signal device from another world." the boy answered, showing her the shield shaped device, he had taken out of Sarah Jane's pocket, the same one he had held in the attic just an hour ago.

"And what of it?"

"Like a mobile phone, only to call across the stars. It must be a million times more powerful." the boy explained, running his fingers over it.

"Then it's a good thing you don't know our frequency."

"Mister Smith said it out loud." the Archetype retorted.

"But that was dozens of numbers." Sarah Jane argued, looking at the boy in shock.

"But I remember them. You gave me the memory of ten thousand humans."

"Yeah, not to be pushy or anything but could you hurry it up?" Samara questioned, dodging an attack from the Bane Mother before facing the three other humans, "This is a bit more difficult than it looks." While her back was turned the creature's tentacle urged closer, however when it was about to attack her, she dodged yet again and swiped hard with her pipe, cutting off the arm and splattering blood everywhere, namely on her father's old shirt.

"Stop him and kill her!" Mrs. Wormwood ordered, sending her Bane minions, that were disguised as humans wearing bright orange jump suits, towards Samara and the Archetype   
while the Bane Mother retreated to mourn her loss of limb.

While the Archetype's fingers blurred over the buttons as he typed out the number, Samara fought the three Bane workers heading towards the humans with a blind fury. "757562987032105 dash 5. Calling the Bane." the Archetype announced, as he pressed send a piercing tone filled the area, causing all the Bane, worker and mother, to cower back even more, shrinking in on themselves. At the loss of components Samara swallowed roughly, dropping the pipe and rushing towards Sarah Jane and Maria who continued to sit behind the Archetype.

"Argh! The Bane Mother! You're killing her! Archetype, I order you to stop!" Mrs. Wormwood ordered, pointing at the boy.

"But you made him human. He's ours! Maria, give me a hand." Sarah Jane said, walking up and putting her jacket around the Archetype and helping him through the rubble with Maria as equipment explodes, Samara leading the way and pushing anything sharp out of the way for the trio that was following her. Once they leave the factory Samara finally starts to breath easily once again, smiling at the blue sky she lived to see once again.

"Did we stop them?" Maria asked, squinting at the bright light as Sarah Jane continued to shepherd them away from the building that was currently filled to the brim with exploding machines.

"Those ones, but those were just a few, there are probably more Bane out there." Samara answered, wiping some blood off her forehead.

"Are you all right?" Sarah Jane asked the Archetype.

"Their control has gone, and I'm free. That's good." he replied with a smile as Samara pulled off her over shirt that was coated with a layer of Bane blood and crumpled it into a ball, throwing it into a nearby bin.

"Oh yes, that's good." Sarah Jane replied, hugging the boy, pulling away to say, "I would be dead without you. We all would. You're amazing. The pair of you. Amazing!"

"Hey!" Samara objected jokingly.

"Well I already knew you were amazing Mara." Sarah Jane retorted.

"I know, it's just good to hear it sometimes." she shrugged with a smirk, looking over her shirt for blood and sadly finding some, "Ndiyayithiya iBane. (I hate the Bane.)" she sighed quietly, rolling her shoulders back and cracking her knuckles.

"This is happiness, yes?" the boy asked, looking at the three women.

"Oh, yes. We did it!" Sarah Jane exclaimed, joined by Maria who also celebrated with a, "We did it! We did it!" 

The three hugged, joyful for their victory however when Maria realized Samara wasn't joining in she frowned and looked over before breaking free and dragging her into a hug, the boy and Sarah Jane joining them despite Samara's protests that she was covered in blood.

They saved the world.


	4. Back to Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of the day, the gang catches up with things they didn't get to do earlier, namely small talk.

Samara sighed as she ran her hands through her hair, the water falling down her back stained with the blood of the Bane, a gooey black substance similar to the residual energy the first one had released on Sarah Jane's staircase just a few hours ago. But she didn't care about that, washing the carpet that lined the stairs would be hard, sure, but it could be replaced; washing the blood off her body and out of her hair was hard, of course it was, but it could be done; the one thing stained by the blood that couldn't be helped was her Agya's (dad's) shirt. That couldn't be replaced, it wouldn't be the same, and so, Samara stood in the shower mourning the loss of her father all over again.

Only after all the blood had been washed away did she stop, he wasn't gone, not really, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Taking a shaky breath, she turned off the shower and stepped out, grabbing a towel and drying herself off, flinching at the sight of her back in the mirror that was covered in only a thin layer of condensation.

When she was all dressed, her hair tied up in a scarf given to her by her uzalakazi (aunt) she looked at the holster that usually sat on her back, yesterday was her first day without it that happened naturally, that felt right, since... She took a deep breath and tried to congratulate herself for the small step towards letting it go, but it sounded so insincere. She couldn't stop herself from thinking, what if something did happen? What if he came back and... what if he tried to take over the world all over again? She knew he was dead, they told her he was dead, but what if they were wrong? He was a Timelord, he could've still been alive and they didn't even know it. She didn't trust the Doctor's judgement, he had wanted to keep that monster alive, he cried when the Master died. After everything that man put them through, put her through!

Samara's hands were clenched tightly, she was angry at herself, at the Doctor, at the world. She picked it up and went to put it away only to stop, she told herself she would be safe with Sarah Jane, she told herself Phil would be coming over, she told herself to put it away. She was never really good at doing things for herself. Picking up the strap she put it on her back like a backpack, feeling comfortable with the familiar weight. She unsheathed the matching vibranium knives, twirling them expertly with a neutral face, practicing the several battle stances she was used to before putting them back on the holster that rested along her spine. Rolling her shoulders back, she nodded, content, as she slipped on a worn black leather jacket.

Walking out of the house, grabbing her keys and phone on her way, she closed the door and after hearing the lock click, she walked over to the Jackson's new house where she saw Mr. Jackson up and about, talking to Sarah Jane, the Archetype, his daughter and his ex wife, without ordering them to drink Bubble Shock. All was well, or it was until she entered the gate and heard Maria's mother saying goodbye to Sarah Jane and the boy, dismissing them by explaining to the remaining two Jackson's why, "Oh, come on, now. Invite the neighbors round, you'll never get rid of them. Next thing you know, it's holidays together. That is a recipe for disaster. No offence. Nice to meet you, Sarah Lou."

With an eyeroll Samara waited for her friends, both new and old, to reach the gate. "I take it I wouldn't be welcome either." she greeted in a flat tone before shaking her head and gesturing across the road, "To Mister Smith?"

"To Mister Smith." Sarah Jane agreed, walking with the two teens, well one teen and a very tall new born.

"So, what are we doing with little Archie here?" the girl questioned, looking at the boy.

"Archie?"

"Archetype is long and lacks the personal touch."

"He's not a red head." Sarah Jane argued, unlocking her door with a glance at the boy who was content to just listen to the two go back and forth.

"You don't have to be a red head to be called Archie." Samara argued, following the woman inside, shaking her head she relented with a sigh of, "Fine, what are you going to do with the umfana (boy) though?"

"I'm adopting him."

"Really?" the girl questioned, a slight smile on her lips while her eyes exploded with excitement.

"Yes."

"Well congratulations then, mum." Samara said, patting her on the shoulder missing the woman's blush as she turned, looking over at the boy and saying, "Congratulations to you too umntwana weenkwenkwezi (child of the stars)." 

"I don't understand those words." the boy informed her as the walked up the stairs.

"Don't worry umfana, neither does umama wakho omtsha (your new mother)." she replied with a smile, walking up the final steps and into the attic. "Mister Smith, I need you." she announced automatically, going to stand in front of the computer as he opened to his usual fanfare.

"How can I help you Samara?" he asked when he was finally open, the boy and Sarah Jane standing next to the girl in question.

"Well, it's more helping Sarah Jane and the newest addition to Bannerman Road." she answered before turning to the woman with a thought, "Although, it's mainly filling out paper work and things, you don't really need me and bucko here do you?" she questioned.

"I don't think so. Why?"

"Well, he needs clothes. I can find some shorts and a t-shirt for him to wear for a bit, then we can go shopping and get back here before Phil shows up."

"Phil? I thought this was Anansi's night." Sarah Jane stated sadly, already knowing the reason for the switch.

"Erm... Yeah. He's caught up. It's okay though, every time I'm with Phil I learn something new about the star spangled man with a plan." she brushed off, but her eyes betrayed her, showing the sadness that her wɔfa (uncle) couldn't be around, "Anyways, sound like a plan?"

"Yeah. Have fun." Sarah Jane said with a nod, turning to Mr. Smith and beginning to tell him the files he needed to pull up and create.

"So umfana, time to get you something to wear. Come on." Samara instructed with a gentle smile, guiding the boy over to her house. "I'll find you something to wear, you can hang out in the egumbini lokuhlala (living room) while I get you something." she said, unlocking the front door and letting him in. "I'll be right back. Feel free to snoop." the girl offered before disappearing up some stairs and into a room off to the side.

"Okay." he said quietly, observing the room that was set up similarly to Sarah Jane's house, but rather than earthy colors the room was filled with vibrant colors decorating the room that contrasted the dark furniture, there were pictures all around the house, the most recent ones of Samara and an older man, but there were older ones that also rested on the blue walls, there were hardly any pictures that didn't have Samara in them and there were even fewer that had women besides Samara. The one the boy found most interesting was a picture of Samara when she was younger, maybe eight years old, standing between three men and a boy that looked to be seven or eight years older than Samara, one of the men was easily identifiable as the man in the other pictures just a little younger than he was now, the other two men also appeared on the walls of the home, but their pictures were scattered and the two hardly ever appeared together, finally the boy, he didn't seem to have any other pictures hung on the wall, however there was a picture of him all grown up on the mantle, next to three other pictures and a pencil drawing. The picture of all of them looked happy, they all looked so happy, with light in their eyes that rarely showed up in the other pictures.

"It's my family, before everything got messy." a voice explained from behind the boy, causing him to jump, but Samara didn't notice, choosing to instead look at the picture and give the boy details, "Me, Agya, Oupa, Anansi and Mickey." she said before tearing her eyes from one of the only pictures of Mickey she had. He didn't like pictures being taken of him, he always thought he looked too much like his father in them, something he could never be happy with once the man left.

"Where are they now?" the boy asked innocently.

"Dead or working themselves to the bone." the girl replied bluntly before handing him a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, "Put these on and we can go out." she instructed, to which the boy pulled off his shirt right away, causing the girl to turn around quickly, a small blush decorating her cheeks as she lifted the picture the boy was looking at and took off a card that was attached to the back, placing the photo back and smiling at it for a moment before turning to find the boy dressed in the ill fitting clothes Samara had handed him. "Okay, off we go." she said, adjusting her head scarf as they walked out the door.

A few hours later and Samara was back on Bannerman Road with the boy, heading back to Sarah Jane's house to find the homeowner and their new friend from over the road were both sitting in the back yard waiting on them. "Sorry we took so long, we had to start from scratch." the girl apologized, as she carried the numerous bags of clothes inside.

"I forgot to give you my card how-"

"Nope, my treat." Samara brushed off.

"Samara-"

"No. I have a job Sarah Jane."

"So do I, and he's now my adopted son I should've-"

"It's fine. My job pays really well Sarah, it's nothing to worry about."

"What is your job?" Maria asked, looking at the girl as she stood up to help her and the boy get his new clothes inside.

"I translate and interpret things for a small government organization and do the same for a much larger one every once and a while." the girl replied, before glancing at Sarah Jane for a second before asking, "Which room Sarah?"

"Well he can choose but I think one of the best is up the stairs and to the right." Samara nodded, carrying the multiple bags into the empty room that was only occupied by a bed, and setting them down.

"What organization do you work for?" Maria inquired, however after she received no response she let out a questioning, "Samara."

"You wouldn't know it." the girl said, brushing it off before turning to the boy, "Right, so you can choose your first outfit."

"Okay."

"Let's go back to the garden and do a big reveal like they do on those shows." Maria offered up, with a nod the other two women followed her out of the room and outside only to have Sarah Jane stop and say, "Wait. I have lemonade, first bit of real pop for him as celebration for sorting this all out." 

"Sounds nice. Need any help?" Maria asked while Samara sat down on the bench, back straight as usual so she wouldn't give away the fact that she was wearing daggers.

"I'll be fine." the woman answered, going inside.

"How was shopping?" Maria asked, turning to Samara.

"It was... good?" she stumbled, not really knowing how to describe the trip. It was mainly just Samara guiding the boy around the city in silence, answering the occasional question he had or asking his opinion on certain outfits but beyond that it wasn't anything noteworthy.

"I'm going to Park Vale, and Sarah Jane said she signed him up as well. Are you going to be there?"

"Yes. My last year."

"Then what? Uni?"

"Probably." Samara said shortly, knowing how much her Agya had wanted her to go to university, how much her Oupa still wanted her to, but it still wasn't exactly what she wanted to spend her time and money on, she already had a high paying job so she didn't feel like she needed to.

Diving in to save the day and rescue to awkward silence was Sarah Jane bringing out a jug of lemonade and some glasses for the three of them, an extra cup out for the boy. Handing them each a cup of lemonade they clinked them together with a joyful "Cheers."

"And it's normal pop." Maria clarified drinking some of the yellow liquid.

"Hooray for normal pop. How's your friend, Kelsey?" Sarah Jane asked, looking at the girl.

"She's back-tracking like mad, saying it was all hallucinations. No such thing as aliens." she answered with a slight laugh.

"But we know better." the older woman added with a smirk causing Samara to shake her head, a smile working its way onto her lips. She was about to say something when the boy exited the house in normal clothes, even trying on the trainers he and Samara had picked out. 

Smiling when the three women on the bench applauded, he sat down next to Maria who said, "Oh, that's more like it."

"This is good?" he questioned, looking at his clothes.

"Yeah. How are you gonna adopt him, then? I mean, you need forms and things. Who are you gonna say his real mum is, the Bane Mother?" the girl asked, addressing a majority of the statement towards Sarah Jane.

"Mister Smith's sorted that. Officially done and dusted. All he needs now is a name." the woman replied, showing them the paperwork.

"You can choose your own."

"I like yours. Maria." the boy replied causing Sarah Jane and Maria to laugh slightly.

"Bit confusing to have two Maria's onuabarima (brother)." Samara explained, the Twi endearment falling smoothly from her lips as she took a sip of her lemonade. 

"What about that? Onuabarima." the boy questioned causing the girl to choke and begin coughing loudly.

"Bit to Ashanti for an Englishman." 

"How about Jack? Josh? Nathan?" Maria offered up.

"Hlomela? Khwezi? Mthunzi?" Samara added.

"And those aren't a bit Ashanti?" the other teen questioned amused.

"Nah. They're a bit to Xhosa though." she relented, "What about Daniel? Alonzo? O Bast, bathini abantu abamhlophe bawabiza ngezingane zabo? (Oh Bast, what do white people name their kids?)"

"Bit long Samara." Sarah Jane joked causing the girl to stick her tongue out childishly, "What about Harry? Alistair? Luke?"

"I like Luke." Maria commented being echoed by Sarah Jane and Samara saying, "I like Luke." in sync.

They all looked to the boy who said without hesitation, "If you like Luke, I like Luke."

"That's the name I was always going to choose if ever I had kids. Except it never happened." the woman said, her voice drifting off at the end.

"But now it has. Luke Smith. You're a mum." Maria stated happily, knocking Sarah Jae's shoulder with her own.

"I am." 

"I never asked. Have you got a boyfriend, or-" the girl begun to ask.

"Oh, there was only ever one man for me. And after him, nothing compared. When I was your age I used to think, oh when I'm grown up, I'll know what I want. I'll be sorted. But you never really know what you want, you never feel grown up, not really. You never sort it all out. So, I thought, I can handle life on my own. But after today, I don't want to." Sarah Jane replied, smiling at the three kids sitting next to her. 

"That's good because I'm not going anywhere." Samara said, resting her head on Sarah Jane's shoulder.

"You'll be off at university next year." the woman corrected.

"And who say's that's the last you'll see of me?" she questioned, as Sarah Jane went to reply she was interrupted by the newly christened Luke pointing up at a light that was crossing the sky, asking, "What's that?"

"It's just a plane." answered Maria, while Samara refilled her cup of lemonade. 

"That's a flying machine, right?" he clarified smiling when he received a nod from Maria.

"Perhaps it's a spaceship. I saw amazing things, out there in space. But there's strangeness wherever you turn. Life on Earth can be an adventure, too. You just need to know where to look." Sarah Jane said dramatically causing Samara to snort slightly as she sat down.

Looking up at the sky she located the thing Luke was asking about and corrected them saying, "That's not a plane, it's a jet. Which is basically the same thing but smaller, however this one's a Quinjet, you can tell by the wings."

"How do you know that?" Maria asked squinting at the jet.

"Because it's my Uncle Phil arriving from America and he texted me saying they were flying right over us." Samara explained with a smile, electing to drink her lemonade.

"You're not allowed to use your phone on planes Samara."

"No you can now, electing to not use airplane mode doesn't effect the machinery anymore, it hasn't for a while." 

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, google it."

"So when's Phil going to be here?" Sarah Jane asked, looking over at the teen.

"About twenty minutes tops, they just built a new airfield that's closer. Why? Are you going to start flirting with him again?"

"No! I just don't want to be roped into watching five hours of American World War Two propaganda."

"That was one time!"

"Oh yes, and the other time he came over we marathoned the entire extended edition of the Lord of the Rings."

"You had never seen it before, and that is a genuine tragedy." Samara argued, she looked at Sarah Jane with a stern look that did nothing to mask the amusement in her brown eyes, but then they widened in shock as she gasped loudly, "Luke! You've never seen the Lord of the Rings!"

"No." the boy replied gently, "Is that bad?"

"Oh, those moves saved my life." 

"How?" Maria questioned, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Sindarin."

"What's-"

"Don't ask." Sarah Jane warned, "She'll go on for hours."

"I will not. Just several long minutes." the girl retorted grumpily. "Anyways, Luke needs to watch the Lord of the Rings and I take it Maria does too because she doesn't know what Sindarin is. You also need to watch the movies because you do not fully appreciate them."

"How long are the movies?"

"A little under eleven and a half hours."

"Eleven and a half hours!"

"Time is a construct." Samara argued downing the rest of her lemonade, "Besides, it's summer."

"How many movies are there?"

"Three movies but in the extended edition, each one has two parts, so technically there are six." the girl answered.

"I'll ask my dad, but if he says yes we're watching the first two at most."

"Deal. What about you Sarah Jane, Luke?" she asked, turning to the Smiths.

"I have to submit an article by tomorrow brushing off the Bubble Shock mishap, but Luke is more than welcome to watch it if he wants to." Sarah Jane answered with a smile.

"I'll watch it." he said after receiving permission.

Jumping up with a child like smile Samara pulled both Luke and Maria up causing laughter to spurt up among the group. "Okay Luke, go inside and change into a softer pair of clothes, you do the same Maria, and then meet me at my house. I'll go set up!" the girl ordered in a hurried fashion, talking with her hands and swinging them about before she nodded and rushed out of the garden leaving with a quick, "See you tomorrow Sarah Jane!" Once she reached her house she quickly unlocked the door and went up to her room, changing to an oversized shirt with the logo of Inqua Auto Shop imprinted on it and a pair of leggings as she took her knife holster and placed it in a box under her bed.   
Once again fixing her head scarf after making sure her hair was being properly moisturized the girl went down the stairs and began to make popcorn, the only thing she could actually cook, if you called it cooking. After setting it to pop she pulled out the Lord of the Rings box set and took out part one of the Fellowship of the Ring and popped it in the disk player to get it to the play screen by the time her friends arrived. With a smile the girl sat down on the couch, checking her phone for any texts. Finding one from VALINOR she groaned because she forgot that she would have to translate something she hasn't even looked at before. Reading the text Samara smiled slightly, 'Hey, the main Bubble Shock factory is in London right? Good job with the Bane.'

'Thanks,' Samara typed, going upstairs to grab her laptop provided by work, 'it wasn't too much work though.'

'You still did it though, and before Owen could find the source, I'm impressed.' the girl read off her phone, blushing slightly at the text, only to shake her head. 

She replied with a small, 'I hope there weren't too many people on the team that were effected.'

'Half of us.'

'Let me guess, Tosh, Gwen and Ianto.'

'Correct. Congratulations, you get a prize.'

'And what would that be?' Samara questioned, sitting down on the couch and opening her laptop while listening to the 

'I'll stop bothering you about translation deadlines.'

'No you won't.'

'No I won't. But I'll do it less... Maybe?' VALINOR typed causing Samara to laugh slightly as she opened up the file the woman sent her, closing her phone and setting it off to the side. She glanced through the text that was displayed on her computer only to see that it wasn't an alien language at all, it was a file written in Persian.   
پابلونرودا "به آرامی آغاز به مردن میكنی"   
ترجمه: احمد شاملو   
به آرامی آغاز به مردن میكنی  
اگر سفر نكنی،  
اگر كتابی نخوانی،  
اگر به اصوات زندگی گوش ندهی،  
اگر از خودت قدردانی نكنی.   
به آرامی آغاز به مردن میكنی   
زمانی كه خودباوری را در خودت بكشی،  
وقتی نگذاری دیگران به تو كمك كنند.   
به آرامی آغاز به مردن میكنی   
اگر برده عادات خود شوی،  
اگر همیشه از یك راه تكراری بروی،  
اگر روزمرّگی را تغییر ندهی،  
اگر رنگهای متفاوت به تن نكنی،  
یا اگر با افراد ناشناس صحبت نكنی.   
تو به آرامی آغاز به مردن میكنی   
اگر از شور و حرارت،  
از احساسات سركش،  
و از چیزهایی كه چشمانت را به درخشش وامیدارند،  
و ضربان قلبت را تندتر میكنند،  
دوری كنی.   
تو به آرامی آغاز به مردن میكنی   
اگر هنگامی كه با شغلت یا عشقت شاد نیستی، آن را عوض نكنی،  
اگر برای مطمئن در نامطمئن خطر نكنی،  
اگر ورای رویاها نروی،  
اگر به خودت اجازه ندهی،  
كه حداقل یك بار در تمام زندگیت  
ورای مصلحتاندیشی بروی.   
تو به آرامی آغاز به مردن میكنی   
امروز زندگی را آغاز كن!  
امروز مخاطره كن!  
امروز كاری كن!  
نگذار كه به آرامی بمیری!  
شادی را فراموش نكن!

With an slight laugh, Samara read it, discovering instantly that it wasn't even an originally Persian poem, but a translation of a poem called Die Slowly, or something close to that. Just as she was about to look up the original, there was a hesitant knock at her door. Moving her laptop off to the side she went over and answered it, seeing that Maria was there along with Luke, both of them wearing their pajamas. 

"Hello." the teen greeted, moving out of the way to let the two in.

"Hey. Were you working on something?" Maria questioned, noticing the computer that rested on the couch.

"Sort of. I was just about to start, but I can do it later." she answered, picking up her computer and putting it off to the side as she went to retrieve the popcorn from the microwave. "I made popcorn and the movie is all set up. So, we can start now or we can wait for Phil to show up. Pro of waiting are you can meet him without having to deal with the moving playing in the background, con is we might not watch the Lord of the Rings and would instead be stuck watching old Captain America movies."

"Captain America?" Maria questioned as she sat down on the couch, Luke following in suit.

"Oh yes, Phil's his number one fan." Samara joked with a smile.

"Well, Luke's never seen-"

"You want to ogle the Captain don't you?" the girl questioned cutting Maria off and causing the girl to blush slightly. "Okay, fine. We'll wait for Phil and listen as he recounts the tales of the good Captain."

"Well, we don't... Okay."


End file.
